Big West Recap for Feb. 20th-22nd

LOS ANGELES – Derek Legg scored the eventual game-winning run in the top of the ninth Sunday while Charlie Ruiz threw 1 2/3 perfect innings in relief as the Long Beach State 49ers beat the USC Trojans, 5-4, at Dedeaux Field. The 49ers recorded 13 hits in the game after a combined seven hits in the first two games of the series.

Legg went 3-for-5 for the 49ers (1-2) with catcher Kellen Hoime also having a three-hit game. Ruiz earned the win after entering the game with runners at first and second in the eighth, but inducing ground outs by Joe De Pinto and Ricky Oropesa.

In the top of the third, Legg singled and third baseman Taylor Krick was hit by an Anthony Vasquez pitch before Devin Lohman delivered a two-run single to right.

USC shortstop Grant Green snapped his hitless streak on the season with a solo shot to left in the sixth. The Trojans loaded the bases after Krick’s error on pitcher Jeff Lease’s throw. A double play scored the tying run in Robert Stock and Krick got credit for another error off Oropesa’s ground ball that gave USC the 3-2 lead.

The 49ers tied the game in the seventh after Jonathan Jones doubled to left and scored on Legg’s RBI single. Long Beach State took the lead in the eighth after three consecutive singles was capped by Trever Blood’s RBI single for the go-ahead run. USC would tie the game at 4-4 in the eighth after Green scored from third, thanks to Keith Castillo’s infield single.

With one out in the ninth, the 49ers were able to load the bases off USC reliever Philip Urso (0-1). Lohman hit a ground ball to Castillo at first, who tagged the bag at first and threw to second for the double play, but Brandon Young made a heads-up play to get in a rundown and allow Legg to score. Krick was later thrown out at home for the final out, but not before the winning run had scored for the Dirtbags.

HONOLULU, HI — Ninth-ranked UC Irvine rallied for two runs with two outs in the ninth but fell short in a 7-4 loss against Hawaii Sunday at Les Murakami Stadium. The loss dropped UCI to 3-1 on the season while Hawaii recorded its first win to improve to 1-3.

Ben Orloff paced UCI, going 2 for 3 while five other Anteaters added a hit each. Starter Nick Hoover struggled in his first start, allowing five runs on four hits while striking out three in 2.1 innings. Reliever Matt Dufour pitched 3.2 innings and held Hawaii to a run on three hits with three strikeouts and junior Cory Hamilton yielded a run on one hit in two innings of work.

UCI struck first in game, scoring a run on an RBI single by Francis Larson but Hawaii answered in its half of the inning on an RBI single by Vinnie Catricala, who later scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.

Hawaii put runners on first and second in the bottom of the third on a walk and a hit batsman and Kevin Macdonald delivered with a two-run single down the left-field line. Landon Hernandez added a two-out RBI double and Shane Hoey closed out the scoring in the inning with a single to left to give the Rainbow Warriors a 6-1 lead.

The Anteaters capitalized on a leadoff double by Dillon Bell in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-2 and Hawaii added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Macdonald for his third RBI of the game.

Ryan Fisher came up with a clutch two-out single inside the left-field line to score Larson and was followed by Eric Deragisch, who jumped on reliever Josh Slaats’ first offering for a double to right-center to score Fisher. However, that ,would be all for UCI as Slaats struck out Tony Asaro to end the Anteater rally.

Hoover took the loss while Hawaii starter Matt Sisto earned the win after seven innings of two-run baseball.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Sophomore first baseman J.J. Thompson’s double to the gap in right-center field knocked in the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Cal Poly completed a comeback from a 6-2 deficit and upset No. 3 Rice 7-6 Saturday night in Baggett Stadium.

Coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs (2-1) also won the first game of Saturday’s day-night doubleheader, 10-3, and captured the season-opening non-conference baseball series, two games to one.

Freshman left fielder Bobby Crocker ignited the rally with a one-out single up the middle, then stole second base. Thompson belted a 2-0 pitch from Rice reliever Matthew Reckling into the gap in right-center field, scoring Crocker with the winning run and completing the twinbill sweep.

The win went to junior right-hander Eric Massingham (1-0), who gave up three runs and three hits in the fifth inning after relieving starter Matt Leonard, but then shut the door on the visiting Owls the rest of the way, allowing no runs and one hit over the final four innings of his five-inning stint. Massingham struck out four and walked three.

Reckling (0-1) was charged with the loss. Rice starter Mike Ojala allowed three runs, just one earned, and five hits in 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and four walks, leaving the game in the seventh with a 6-3 lead.

Hits were even at nine apiece.

Senior shortstop Kyle Smith singled three times, scored three times and knocked in a pair of runs to lead Cal Poly. Senior center fielder Ryan Lee and Thompson each added two hits.

Shortstop Rick Hague and third baseman Anthony Rendon each had two hits for Rice (1-2).

Trailing 6-2, Cal Poly began its comeback with a run in the seventh inning as Smith singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The Mustangs tied the game at 6-6 with three runs in the eighth. Smith singled to knock in one run, junior right fielder Adam Melker was hit by a pitch for the second run and junior first baseman Wes Dorrell also was hit by a pitch to knot the score at 6-6 and set the stage for Thompson’s game-winning heroics in the ninth.

In the first game, junior right-hander DJ Mauldin scattered 10 hits over seven innings and junior third baseman Adam Buschini drove in three runs as Cal Poly beat the Owls 10-3.

The win marked the first time in five tries that the Mustangs beat the Owls. Cal Poly had a lead late in all three games of a series in Houston in 2007 and was ahead 7-6 after five innings Friday night, but couldn’t hold onto any of them.

But in Saturday’s opener, Mauldin allowed three runs with one walk and four strikeouts for the victory and Cal Poly put together a 13-hit offensive attack, scoring at least two runs in each of the first four innings for a 9-1 advantage and coasting to the win.

Buschini knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt for another RBI in the second frame and doubled in another run in the eighth inning for his three-RBI total.

Sophomore designated hitter D.J. Gentile produced three of the Mustangs’ 13 hits, including a double, while Melker, Lee and Crocker each added two hits. Crocker, in his first collegiate start, also drove in two runs.

Freshman southpaw Taylor Wall, 14-1 with an 0.64 ERA as a senior in high school last spring, suffered the loss for Rice, allowing eight runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Designated hitter Diego Seastrunk, center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh and left fielder Michael Fuda each had two of Rice’s 12 hits. One of Seastrunk’s hits was a solo home run leading off the sixth inning.

Cal Poly plays its first road game of the 2009 season Tuesday night, visiting defending national champion Fresno State6:05 p.m. single game. for a

UC RIVERSIDE VS. CAL

Game #1: Cal 8 – UCR 7
Game #2: UCR 6 – Cal 5
Game #3: UCR 5 – Cal 2

BERKELEY, CALIF. – The University of California baseball team dropped a doubleheader to UC Riverside, 6-5 and 5-2, Saturday at Evans Diamond, falling to 1-2 on the 2009 season after defeating the Highlanders (2-1), 8-7, on Friday. In game one, the Golden Bears almost made an impressive comeback when sophomore Austin Booker led off the bottom of the ninth with his first career homer to get Cal within a run. Brett Jackson followed with a double, but unfortunately for the Bears freshman Danny Oh lined out to right field, junior Jeff Kobernus flew out to deep center field and junior Blake Smith flew out to the right field warning track to end the game.

In game two, the Bears did not get a hit until the fourth inning as UCR junior left-hander Paul Applebee threw a complete game with four hits, two runs, one walk and eight strikeouts.

In the morning game, UCR scored two runs in the top of the first inning off of Blake Smith, who ended up throwing a career-high 5.2 innings with four hits, four runs, no earned runs, four walks and a career-high seven strikeouts. Smith struggled in the first inning however, giving up two runs on his throwing error to second base and a wild pitch.

Cal came back with four runs in the bottom of the second inning on a lead-off double by Smith, an RBI double by Michael Brady, a two-run homer by sophomore first baseman Mark Canha (first collegiate homer) and an RBI single by Jackson to gain a 4-2 advantage. But, Smith yielded two more runs in the fourth inning on a bases loaded walk and an RBI single by UCR’s Carl Uhl’s RBI single to tie the game, 4-4.

Reliever Daniel Wolford (3.1 innings, three hits, two runs, two walks, five strikeouts) replaced Smith in the sixth inning and was saddled with the loss when he gave up an RBI groundout in the eighth inning and a solo home run to Joey Gonzales in the top of the ninth inning. The winning pitcher for UCR was middle reliever Matt Montgomery (2.0 innings, no hits, no runs, two walks). Joseph Kelly picked up the save (2.0 innings, four hits, one run, two strikeouts).

Cal struggled at the plate in game two against Applebee. The Bears got their two runs on an RBI groundout by Kobernus in the fourth inning and senior right fielder Ryan Hanlon’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, scoring Canha who had led off the inning with a double. The losing pitcher for Cal was junior left-hander Chris Petrini (2.0 innings, five hits, four runs). After redshirt freshman Dixon Anderson made his college debut with 3.0 innings (four hits, one run, one strikeout), junior left-hander Michael Bugary finished the game for the Bears with a career-high 4.0 innings with two hits, no runs, three walks and a career-high five strikeouts.

#5 CAL STATE FULLERTON vs. TCU

Game #1: CSF 7 – TCU 6
Game #2: TCU 8 – CSF 6
Game #3: TCU 11 – CSF 6

Fullerton, Calif. – Taylor Cragin held No. 5 Cal State Fullerton to just one hit in six innings of relief as TCU won the opening series with an 11-6 come-from-behind victory Sunday afternoon at Goodwin Field.

Fullerton falls to 1-2 on the young season, TCU improve to 2-1.

Cragin (1-0) came on in relief of starter Kyle Winkler who was touched early by a six-run Titan first and lasted just three innings. The right-hander fanned five and allowed just one bunt single to Christian Colon in the bottom of the eighth to pick up his first win of the year.

Both TCU pitchers held the Titans to a combined three hits while TCU touched up a Fullerton’s five pitchers for 18 knocks.

Just one of the Titans six first-inning runs were charged to Winkler as two errors contributed to the continuation of the inning. Freshman Nick Ramirez continued to impress at the plate as he belted his first career home run, a three run shot that gave the Titans a 6-1 lead after one. Ramirez finished the weekend 7-for-12 (.583) with three doubles, a home run and 6 RBI.

TCU came back with a run in the second to cut the Titan lead to four runs, but then exploded for a six-run fourth. The Horned Frogs strung together six straight hits, including RBI-singles by Ben Carruther and Chris Ellington, an RBI-double by Matt Carpenter and a two-run home run by designated hitter Matt Curry, his second of the series.

Titan starter Tyler Pill, making his collegiate debut, worked 3 1/3 innings, surrendering four runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out one. Ramirez (0-1), slipped out of the DH spot and came in relief of Pill with one out, and two runs already across in the fourth, and was promptly greeted with four hits in a row, all which would come around to score before setting down the final two outs of the inning. Ramirez was charged with the loss.

Ramirez work two batters into the sixth, surrendering another one of Ellington’s game-leading four hits, and walked Curry before returning to the DH spot in the lineup. Fullerton’s Derrick Dingeman made his first appearance from the bullpen as a Titan and got an out on a sacrifice bunt by Jason Coats, but then Taylor Featherston lined a ball into the right field corner for a triple, bringing home both Ellinton and Curry to make it 10-6.

The Frogs added another insurance run in the seventh off Dingeman to complete the scoring. Ryan Ackland and Kyle Mertins pitched two scoreless innings to give the Titans a change for a late-inning rally, but Cragin set down the Titans in order in the eighth and ninth.

Six Frogs had multiple hits, and four finished multi-RBI efforts. Dustin Garneau provided the Titans third hit of the afternoon, a double in the first inning.

MALIBU, Calif. – In their final game of the three-game series, the Cal State Northridge Matadors erased two Pepperdine leads throughout the first nine innings, but were victimized by another walk-off home run, falling to the Waves 3-2 in ten innings.

It was the second time in the series that CSUN was defeated by a late-inning long-ball; in Friday’s contest the host Waves grasped a win from the Matadors with a game-winning home run in the ninth inning before falling in the tenth in Sunday’s contest.

In his Matador debut, starting pitcher Brian Harper showcased his skills on the mound, allowing five hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings, striking out two batters in the process.

In the fourth inning, Pepperdine took an early 1-0 lead before Matador second baseman Justin DeMarco’s single through the heart of the infield drove home Ryan Pineda for the tying run in the sixth inning.

After the Waves responded by driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the seventh inning, head coach Steve Rousey brought in sophomore reliver Brian Slover to squelch the Pepperdine rally.

Not only did Slover accomplish his initial goal by striking out Pepperdine’s clean-up hitter to end the inning with two Waves on base, but he returned to the mound in the follwing innings, keeping the Matadors in the game with his commmanding performance on the mound.

With the home crowd in the process of gathering their belongings in preparation for leaving the ballpark, centerfielder Jeff Pruitt drew a walk from Pepperdine reliever Nick Gaudi, giving his team an opportunity to tie the game.

After Pruitt stole second base, catcher John Parham ignited the Northridge-half of the crowd with his RBI-single to left field, evening the game once again at two apiece, forcing the game to go into extra innings.

Four hours and two minutes after the game had began, Pepperdine’s Nate Simon wrapped up the series with his opposite-field shot to left center that just cleared the fence, giving the Waves the victory.

With their initial games of the series now under their belts, the Matadors fought toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Waves – listed by Yahoo/Rivals.com and Baseball America as the eighth and seventeenth-best team in the nation respectively – and had the chance to win the weekend series had it not been for the late-inning heroics of the Waves.

Waco, Texas – Playing the rubber game of a three-game series, the Pacific baseball team plated three runs in the top of the ninth to force extra innings but ultimately fell to No. 8 Baylor, 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday, Feb. 22. The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-2 on the season, while Baylor moved to 2-1.

Down 4-1, Pacific could not find an answer to reliever Jon Ringenberg’s efficient pitching through the eighth as he held the Tigers scoreless and did not allow one single runner in three innings out of the bullpen. However, the Tigers came charging in the ninth inning as Ringenberg gave up consecutive singles to junior third baseman Mike Walker and senior right fielder Mike McKeever to open the inning without an out.

Brooks Pinckard (1-0) came in to relieve Ringenberg of his duty and gave up two runs as senior catcher Kurt Wideman shot a double down the right field line, scoring junior pinch runner Matt Fuson and Walker to bring the score to 4-3. From the eighth position in the lineup, junior designated hitter and RHP Jamie Niley hit a sacrifice fly to plate sophomore second baseman J.B. Brown with one out and a runner at third, blowing the save opportunity for Pinckard and extending the game into extra innings for the second time in the series against Baylor, with a 4-4 score on the board.

After a scoreless ninth inning, the Bears put an end to their struggles and put runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the 10th inning. Junior RHP Andrew Mintun intentionally walked Adam Hornung to load the bases as the infield played up for the force out at home for the next batter. Instead, during Lucas Hileman’s first plate appearance of the game, Hileman snuck the game-winning single to the deep infield past Brown taking the game in extra innings, 5-4.

Mintun (0-1, 4.50 ERA), in two innings of relief, gave up one earned run on three runs with two strikeouts. McKeever (.333 average) led Pacific with a 2-for-4 plate appearance and Wideman (1-for-3, .100 average) paved the way for the Tigers’ offensive charge with two RBI on the afternoon.

Junior starter RHP Hunter Carnevale recorded 5.1 innings of work and, with the score tied at 1-1 to start out the bottom of the sixth inning, was charged with the final two runs of his appearance as the Bears took the lead in the game, 3-1. Baylor scored its first run of the inning when Carnevale loaded the bases and then dished out a five-pitch walk to Gregg Glime, allowing Dustin Dickerson to score who doubled to start off the inning. Niley then came in to relieve Carnevale on the mound and surrendered a hit up the middle that Brown fumbled and recovered with an out at second, allowing Miller to score from third. With runners at the corners, Landis Ware flied out to senior Joey Centanni in center field to end the inning, as the Tigers trailed for the second time of the game.

Carnevale gave Pacific another quality start in the series, giving up six hits, three runs and struck out five, in 25 batters faced. Baylor’s starter, RHP Craig Fritsch saw 21 batters in four innings, and allowed one run on four hits.

Behind Ringenberg’s pitching, the Bears were able to score a fourth run in the eighth off junior RHP Tye Davis. Davis advanced Aaron Miller to second on a wild pitch and he then scored to bring the game at 4-1, when Hornung doubled into right field.

In the bottom of the fourth, Baylor finally jumped on the scoreboard when Hornung doubled down the left field line and scored Dan Evatt from second. Evatt singled to start off the inning, then advanced to second on a wild pitch during Hornug’s at-bat to bring the score at 1-0 in favor of the Bears. Carnevale did not let the mistake get to his head and pitched out of the jam recording the next two outs during the next two at-bats after the run scored.

After four scoreless innings to start out the game, down 1-0, Pacific answered Baylor’s fourth-inning run during the top of the fifth. Sophomore first baseman Brian Martin hit a routine ball to short stop to score Centanni from third base and earn the RBI knotting the score at 1-1. In the previous at-bat, Centanni reached first on an error by the short stop, Raynor Campbell. During Martin’s at-bat, Centanni used head’s up base running to steal second, then advanced to third when Campbell and Ware miscommunicated in covering the bag, missing the throw completely.

The Tigers kept the game tied in the bottom of the fifth with one out as sophomore left fielder Nick Longmire snagged a deep shot at the left field fence and doubled up Hansen at first who anticipated a home run. Shaver Hansen could not get back to first on time, and the Tigers ended the inning.

The Bears’ first scoring threat in the game came in the bottom of the third, when Glime and Don Lambert started off the inning with back-to-back singles. Ware tried to advance his runners with a sacrifice bunt, but tapped it down the third base line as Carnevale was able to come up with it and tag out the lead runner at third. With one out and runners on first and second, Carnevale persisted on the mound and rung up Hansen who took the sixth pitch for the third strike of his at-bat. Carnevale then walked Campbell to load the bases for the first time in the inning, and on two outs recorded a huge strikeout as Dickerson struck out swinging to end the inning and keep the game scoreless after three full innings of play.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Junior Kyle Mihaylo opened the 11th inning with his third double of the game and senior Grant Hirneise doubled him home the next at-bat to lift UC Davis to an 8-7 come-from-behind victory over No. 12 UCLA Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

It marks the first win of the 2009 season for the Aggies and helps them salvage the season-opening three-game series with UCLA.

MIhaylo tied a UC Davis single game record with three doubles as he finished 3-for-5 with a run scored. Hirneise tied the game-high with two RBIs off the double and a sacrifice fly. A total of five Aggies had multiple hits in the game as UC Davis exploded for a season-best 14 hits.

Redshirt freshman Dayne Quist pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed only one hit to earn the first victory of his collegiate career. A total of six Aggies saw time on the mound during the game, including senior Adam Bennett who threw three scoreless innings to keep the Aggies in the game.

Junior Ty Kelly and senior Ryan Scoma each drove in a run and scored twice while sophomore Scott Heylman and redshirt freshman Tony Bongiovanni each had one RBI apiece.

Leading the way for the Bruins was Gabe Cohen who drove in two runs for the third consecutive game while going 3-for-4 with a run scored. The Bruins had six players drive in runs on the night. Trevor Bauer pitched the final 4.1 innings and gave up three runs off seven hits in the loss.

Mihaylo led off the 11th inning with a double off the center field wall and advanced to third on a wild pitch. HIrneise then doubled in the next at-bat to drive Mihaylo home and give UC Davis it’s second and final lead of the game.

UC Davis rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to tie things up at 7-7 and eventually force extra innings. Scoma walked to open the inning and junior Jared Thompson singled to advance him to second. A walk to Mihaylo loaded the bases for Hirneise, who sent a sacrifice fly to left field to score Scoma. After a strikeout put UC Davis down to its last out, Bongiovanni came in as a pinch hitter and drove a ball to center field to score pinch runner Jeremy McChesney and tie the game.

UCLA started the scoring for the third consecutive game with a two-run second inning. UC Davis cut the lead in half with a single run in the top of the third. Heylman and Kelly walked in consecutive at-bats and Scoma then drove Heylman home from second with a single through the right side.

The Bruins regained their two-run lead in the bottom half of the third with a single run. The Aggies then broke out with their biggest inning of the season with four runs in the fifth to take their first lead of the series at 5-3. Following a walk to sophomore Daniel Cepin to open the inning, Heylman doubled to left field to bring him home. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored during the same at-bat when Kelly doubled down the left-field line. Kelly and Scoma would come home to score on consecutive Bruin fielding errors to give UC Davis the lead.

UCLA regained the lead at 7-5 with a total of four runs in the next three innings. The Bruins scored one run in the bottom half of the fifth and the seventh along with a two-run showing in the sixth. The sixth was made possible by a two-out, two-run single from Cohen. Eddie Murray tripled to drive in the run in the seventh.

#30 UC SANTA BARBARA vs. ST. LOUIS & CS BAKERSFIELD

UC Santa Barbara vs. St. Louis
St. Louis 8 – UCSB 7

UC Santa Barbara vs. Cal State Bakersfield
UCSB 10 – CS Bakersfield 0

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – To open the 2009 season, UC Santa Barbara’s baseball team received what it hopes is a sign to come for a successful year – superb starting pitching.

However, the No. 30 Gauchos ended up going 1-1 in a pair of games Sunday at Cal State Bakersfield, losing 8-7 to St. Louis and defeating Bakersfield, 10-0.

Mario Hollands, fresh off his Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year award, allowed just four hits over eight shutout innings in the second game of the day, striking out six and walking two. The sophomore followed up a fantastic start in the first game by Joe Gardner, who struck out 13 batters in seven innings while allowing just two unearned runs.

Hollands was aided by a 13-hit attack from the Gauchos, with five players recording multi-hit games. Senior shortstop Shane Carlson belted two home runs and had four RBI in the victory. Eric Oliver and Matt Valaika also homered while Bryce Tafelski, Robby Cummings and Steve Cook all doubled. Tafelski also had two runs batted in.

David Meals, making his first appearance as a Gaucho, relieved Hollands and struck out the side in the ninth to cap the victory.

Making his first start in a UCSB uniform, junior college transfer Joe Gardner allowed just five hits while striking out 13 batters in seven innings and left with a 7-2 lead. Both runs that Gardner allowed were unearned.

Yet, the Billikens scored six runs in the final two innings against relievers Zach Samuels and Clayton Edwards, handing the Gauchos their first loss of the season.

St. Louis scored its first two runs of the eighth inning against Samuels without a ball ever leaving the infield. Sandwiched between a pair of walks was an infield single to load the bases, before first baseman Eric Oliver’s error allowed two runs to score. Samuels was pulled in favor of Edwards.

After a hit batter and fielder’s choice loaded the bases, Zach Miller singled up the middle to score two runs, cutting UCSB’s lead to 7-6 heading into the ninth.

But a one out, two-run double sank any chances UCSB had of opening the season with a win.

Brian Gump went 1-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored in the game, Robby Cummings had a pair of hits and an RBI, Mark Haddow had a double, a triple, a run scored and an RBI while Matt Valaika and Shane Carlson each had a pair of hits.

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